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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Friday, December 3, 2010

Hello everybody!!!I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Now that it's nearly "That time of year" I wanted to share with y'all my most favorite all time Christmas story. I won't say any thing about it except that it's a real tearjerker, and don't quit reading 'cause it's kind of long!!

A FAMILY FOR FREDDIE By Abbie Blair

I remember the first time I saw Freddie. He was standing in his playpen at the adoption agency where I work. He gave me a toothy grin. "What a beautiful baby," I thought.

His boarding mother gathered him into her arms. "Will you be able to find a family for Freddie?"

Then I saw it. Freddie had been born without arms.

"He's so smart. He's only ten months old, and already he walks and talks." She kissed him. "Say ‘book' for Mrs. Blair."

Freddie grinned at me and hid his head on his boarding mother's shoulder. "Now, Freddie, don't act that way," she said. "He's really very friendly," she added. "Such a good, good boy."

Freddie reminded me of my own son when he was that age, the same thick dark curls, the same brown eyes.

"You won't forget him, Mrs. Blair? You will try?"

"I won't forget."

I went upstairs and got out my latest copy of the Hard-to-Place list.

Freddie is a ten-month-old white Protestant boy of English and French background. He has brown eyes, dark-brown hair and fair skin. Freddie was born without arms, but is otherwise in good health. His boarding mother feels he is showing signs of superior mentality, and he is already walking and saying a few words.

Freddie is a warm, affectionate child who has been surrendered by his natural mother and is ready for adoption.

"He's ready," I thought. "But who is ready for him?"

It was ten o'clock of a lovely late-summer morning, and the agency was full of couples-couples having interviews, couples meeting babies, families being born. These couples nearly always have the same dream: they want a child as much like themselves as possible, as young as possible, and-most important-a child with no medical problem.

"If he develops a problem after we get him," they say, "that is a risk we'll take, just like any other parents. But to pick a baby who already has a problem-that's too much."

And who can blame them?

I wasn't alone in looking for parents for Freddie. Any of the caseworkers meeting a new couple started with a hope: maybe they were for Freddie. But summer slipped into fall, and Freddie was with us for his first birthday.

"Freddie is so-o-o big," said Freddie, laughing. "So-o-o big."

And then I found them.

It started out as it always does-an impersonal record in my box, a new case, a new "Home Study," two people who wanted a child. They were Frances and Edwin Pearson. She was 41. He was 45. She was a housewife. He was a truck driver.

I went to see them. They lived in a tiny white-frame house in a big yard full of sun and old trees. They greeted me together at the door, eager and scared to death. Mrs. Pearson produced steaming coffee and oven-warm cookies. They sat before me on the sofa, close together, holding hands. After a moment, Mrs. Pearson began: "Today is our wedding anniversary. Eighteen years."

"Good years." Mr. Pearson looked at his wife. "Except-"

"Yes," she said. "Except. Always the ‘except.'" She looked around the immaculate room. "It's too neat," she said. "You know?"

I thought of my own living room with my three children. Teenagers now. "Yes," I said. "I know."

"Perhaps we're too old?"

I smiled. "You don't think so," I said. "We don't either."

"You always think it will be this month, and then next month," Mr. Pearson said. "Examinations. Tests. All kinds of things. Over and over. But nothing ever happened. You just go on hoping and hoping, and time keeps slipping by."

"We've tried to adopt before this," Mr. Pearson said. "One agency told us our apartment was too small, so we got this house. Then another agency said I didn't make enough money. We had decided that was it, but this friend told us about you, and we decided to make one last try."

"I'm glad," I said.

Mrs. Pearson glanced at her husband proudly. "Can we choose at all?" she asked. "A boy for my husband?"

"We'll try for a boy," I said. "What kind of boy?"

Mrs. Pearson laughed. "How many kinds are there? Just a boy. My husband is very athletic. He played football in high school; basketball, too, and track. He would be good for a boy."

Mr. Pearson looked at me. "I know you can't tell exactly," he said, "but cm you give us any idea how soon? We've waited so long."

I hesitated. There is always this question.

"Next summer maybe," said Mrs. Pearson. "We could take him to the beach."

‘That long?" Mr. Pearson said. "Don't you have anyone at all? There must be a little boy somewhere."

"Of course," he went on after a pause, "we can't give him as much as other people. We haven't a lot of money saved up."

"We've got a lot of love," his wife said. "We've saved up a of that.

"Well," I said cautiously, "there is a little boy. He is 13 months old."

"Oh," Mrs. Pearson said, "just a beautiful age."

"I have a picture of him," I said, reaching for my purse. I handed them Freddie's picture.

"He is a wonderful little boy," I said. "But he was born without arms."

They studied the picture in silence. He looked at her. "What do you think, Fran?"

"Kickball," Mrs. Pearson said. "You could teach him kickball."

"Athletics are not so important," Mr. Pearson said. "He can earn to use his head. Arms he can do without. A head, never. He can go to college. We'll save for it."

"A boy is a boy," Mrs. Pearson insisted. "He needs to play. You can teach him."

"I'll teach him. Arms aren't everything. Maybe we can get him some."

They had forgotten me. But maybe Mr. Pearson was right, I thought. Maybe sometime Freddie could be fitted with artificial arms. He did have nubs where arms should be.

"Then you might like to see him?"

They looked up. "When could we have him?"

"You think you might want him?"

Mrs. Pearson looked at me. "Might?" she said. "Might?"

"We want him," her husband said.

Mrs. Pearson went back to the picture. "You've been waiting for us," she said. "Haven't you?"

"His name is Freddie," I said, "but you can change it."

"No," said Mr. Pearson. "Frederick Pearson-it's good together."

And that was it.

There were formalities, Of course; and by the time we set the day Christmas lights were strung across city streets and wreaths were hung everywhere.

I met the Pearsons in the waiting room. There was a little snow on them both.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

What was your favorite childhood television program? Me and Shelbi used to watch P, B & J Otter on the Disney Channel when we were little. I still remember the songs!

Are you a collector of anything? I used to collect rocks, but I don't anymore. I guess I collect little brothers.

What is usually your first thought when you wake up? If it's a weekday I usually think "I don't want to get up!! " and if it's Saturday or Sunday I think, "Oh I'm so glad I get to sleep!!"

What do you think about right before you go to sleep at night? Ummm.... either what I have to do the next day, or what book I'm reading. :)

What is your favorite color? purple or dark green.

Have any bad habits? Yes, I bite my fingernails and chew my lip. (Gross I know.)

Are you a mostly clean or messy person? I am mostly clean.

What is your favorite song at the moment? Right now it would be "In Christ Alone" by The Gettys.

What is your favorite thing to do on a Saturday night? Watch a movie or have another family over.

What is your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon? SLEEP!

Any hidden talents? Umm, I don't think so. :)

What would be your dream job? I don't know!!

Name one thing that not many people know about you? I have a very unusual birthmark on the underside of my left arm. It's three big pink dots. :) I guess it has something to do with being left handed!

If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to? Cassandra or Rebbecca.

What is your favorite pizza topping? Canadian Bacon and Pineapple!

What songs do you most often sing in the shower? When I do sing in the shower, it's whatever song I've had stuck in my head all day.

What is your favorite Christmas movie? The Little House "The Christmas At Plum Creek".

Do you cry at movies? Sometimes...

Do you play an instrument? Yes, I play the piano, and I took violin for three years.

What music are you listening to right now? Right now while I am blogging, Shelbi is playing "Cavalry Gallop" on the piano.

What was the last good movie the you watched? I loved all of the movies at the Film Festival, but I think "The Penny" was my favorite.

What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping. Who stays up until midnight anyway?

What was the last thing that you dreamed about that you remember? A few nights ago I dreamed that I was in a corral with a bunch of horses and they started attacking me. ( That just goes to show that I'm a Texan, and I 'm afraid of attacking horses) .

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

In case ya'll are wondering if I've died or something... no I have not. I have many reasons for not posting in such a long time.

1) We have moved. We moved to Airport Road, and it takes a long time for a family like us to move all of our stuff (or junk) to a different place.

Here is our new house. We all really like it because it has alot of room. It has a pond, two living areas, and five bedrooms. God has really blessed us with this house!

2)We have been out of town alot. We went to the Semper Reformanda conference in Houston, and then the next weekend we went to San Antonio for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. I really enjoyed both of these events.

3) In between those two things, I turned 14 on October 25th. I got a new camera; I've been saving for one for a long time. It's a Canon Power Shot Sx30IS. It has many gadgets, some or most of which I haven't learned how to use yet.

Here it is!!!

Since my birthday was before the Film Festival, I had the camera when we went, and of course I was taking alot of pictures. Three hundred to be exact. When we got back, I was wanting to blog, and I accidentally formatted all of the pictures :( Now I can't get them back. Boohoo! At least I'll know not to do that again.

I've taken more pictures since we got back though. Here are a few.

I thought these were hilarious. ;)

Our first thumb-sucker! He was trying to suck his thumb and smile at the same time :)

These were taken at our grandparents' house. We went over there last night so that Daddy and Seth could hunt with Papa. They didn't shoot anything..."but they saw some rabbits." ( Not exactly what they were looking for.)

I thought the fall leaves were pretty :)

That's all for right now-- hope ya'll have enjoyed this update on everything!!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Saturday we all went to our Aunt Joanna's house for a surprise party for Nana. Since this was her last birthday with us before her and Pa move to Romania, we all wanted to celebrate ;) We had a really good time with all of our family.

I've got some pictures!

She was opening presents right here.

The party hosts: Uncle Neil and Aunt Joanna.

Nana with Shiloh. We all love you Nana, and we'll miss you when you leave!!

In case you are wondering.... yes this is a spider. The kids that were playing outside found a tarantula, the big fuzzy kind ;) It was about as big as my hand, or bigger. Nobody was brave enough to pick it up because it was pretty aggressive. One of the dads finally let it crawl on a stick and then dropped it over the fence where nobody would step on it.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Happy Labor Day everybody!!! Tomorrow we are starting school, and I'm glad because our days have got kind-of boring :)I think I am really going to enjoy my science book this year, it has some really neat experiments in it. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is getting up at 6:30 :( Daddy went to work today, but when he gets home we're going to grill hamburgers and play kickball! Our family plays kickball sometimes on special ocasions. It can get pretty competitive:) I hope everyone has a great Labor Day!!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Here are some more pictures of the new addition to our family. He's starting to open his eyes more,and he hardly ever cries except for when he gets his diaper changed, or when he's hungry. We think he's going to be even chubbier than Stephen, who was 9 pounds 15 oz.at birth and 30 pounds when he was 6 months old. :) Enjoy the pictures!

I know this picture is kind-of blurry, but at least he has his eyes open! :)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

On July 22 a new brother was born into our home. Shiloh Knox weighed 10 pounds 12 oz. at birth! He is very chubby, and has been held alot. :) We went to our grandparents' house when he was born,and went home the next day.

Here we are when we first met him.

This is me with him. Mama and Daddy barely made it to the birthing center on time, he was born 13 minutes after they got there!!

Grandma and papa holding him.

We love you Shiloh, and we are thankful that the Lord has blessed us with you!

Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward...

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I have just recently got some *new* rubber boots!! I got a pair of black polka dot rubber boots for Christmas, and after 7 months they have bit the dust. They were too small and the right boot had a big rip in the heel. :) (Having a rip in your boot when you go fishing isn't very pleasant, especially when you get pond water in it and then feel a little critter biting you on the foot.) So, it was time for some new ones. I got some pictures of the old and new, and my friend Allix wrote me a poem to go with them.

These are my old ones, can you tell they've been worn twice every day if not more??

Friday, May 28, 2010

A few days ago I got some pictures of the little ones playing in their pool. Stephen and Si like this little one better than our "big pool", as we call it.(It's 4 feet deep and 15 feet wide.) They really enjoyed themselves, although the whole time I was taking these pictures Silas kept coming up to me and saying "Wet! Wet!" while looking at his clothes :)

Silas kept putting his shoe in the water and then pouring the water out of it.

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About Me

I am a christian young lady, and the second oldest in a family of ten. I am sixteen, homeschooled, and I live in Texas where my daddy serves in a Reformed Baptist Church. I love to spend time with my family, and I enjoy all the fun things we do together.